1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to telecommunications. More specifically, systems and methods for Internet content delivery utilizing both wireless and wire technologies are disclosed.
2. Description of Related Art
With the increasing popularity of the Internet, the amount of traffic and congestion over the Internet is increasing. Internet content is typically delivered to the end user through the bandwidth-constrained Internet backbone via the end user""s Internet service provider (xe2x80x9cISPxe2x80x9d). In order to accommodate the increased traffic, Internet service providers must increase their bandwidth. In addition, providers of popular Internet content must also provide sufficient server capacity in order to support the increased access to their websites.
Internet content traditionally has included mostly static Web pages and graphics. However, richer forms of media that require significantly larger amounts of network capacity account for an increasing portion of Internet traffic growth and demand. These richer, broadband forms of media include audio and/or video streaming such as MP3 audio and RealVideo, whether delivered live or on-demand. Such richer forms of media require greater capacity from content provider servers, as well as greater capacity in the networks they traverse. As a result, the delivery of such rich content through the bandwidth-constrained Internet backbone often results in unsmooth sounds and/or small, shaky images for the end users.
Rather than rely on wire mechanisms, such as twisted copper pairs or POTS (plain old telephone service), coaxial cables, and optical fibers, some content providers and/or ISPs have utilized alternative Internet content delivery systems, in an attempt to bypass the Internet backbone and deliver Internet content to the end user more quickly and reliably.
In particular, many content providers and/or ISPs have utilized wireless or extraterrestrial mechanisms, such as satellite technology, to deliver content and/or Webcast programming to the end users with adequate bandwidth and broadband network performance. One key advantage of satellites is their ability to bounce signals from one source to many destinations, i.e., a one-to-many paradigm.
iBeam Corporation""s iBeam Broadcasting network is one example of a satellite network for Internet content delivery. The iBeam Broadcasting network is a satellite service launched to bypass the bottlenecks of the Internet and to potentially allow millions of end users to view the same Internet content, static and/or streaming, simultaneously. Content providers such as broadcasters and producers typically pay for their content to be carried over the satellite network.
Another scheme is proposed by SkyStream Corporation. SkyStream""s network enables broadcast, satellite, and cable television providers to stream popular Web sites and Webcasts over their unused broadcast bandwidth spectrum, enabling the Internet content to hitch a ride with digital satellite-TV traffic.
In addition, SkyCache Incorporated of Laurel, Md. similarly promulgates a broadband broadcast network that utilizes satellite technology to move high-bandwidth Internet data more quickly-to enterprises such as ISPs and corporations. SkyCache implements high-speed satellite datacasting systems for the movement of World Wide Web content, Usenet News, digital audio and video data streams, and the synchronization of distributed systems. The use of such technology reduces the need for ISPs to increase their terrestrial bandwidth for Internet connectivity.
The systems or networks promulgated by iBeam Corporation, SkyStream Corporation, and SkyCache Incorporated all transmit signals to regional data centers (xe2x80x9cRDCsxe2x80x9d) or local enterprises such as ISPs and corporations. The regional data centers then relay the data to the remote end users via regional networks, thereby pushing content closer to the end users and bypassing any bottlenecks in the Internet backbone.
However, even with these systems and networks, another bottleneck for broadband media is the xe2x80x9clast milexe2x80x9d linking the enterprises such as ISPs and corporations to the remote user. In particular, congestion in the regional data networks can result, especially for high-demand live events and webcasts. While multicast protocols exist for both Layer 2 (ATM) and Layer 3 (TCP/IP) networks, they are little deployed today as they increase management complexity to wire networks and do not easily interoperate (e.g., IP multicast mapping to ATM point-to-multipoint).
Hughes Network System""s DirecPC is one method that purports to alleviate the bottleneck over the last mile. With Hughes"" DirecPC, the end user personal computer sends outbound data and signals, such as URL requests, by modem over a telephone line to the ISP and receives high bandwidth responses from the Internet via satellite. In other words, signals are directly delivered via satellite to the remote end users such as businesses and homes, rather than to enterprises such as ISPs and corporations. The Hughes DirecPC technology transfers data received from the content provider over a DirecPC high-speed satellite channel to one or more personal computers at each remote end user site. Each remote end user site is provided with an antenna, outdoor electronics mounted on the antenna for signal reception/transmission, and indoor electronics for interfacing with the personal computer(s).
The Hughes"" DirecPC generally works as follows. When the end user requests the contents at an URL, the DirecPC software loaded in the end user""s PC attaches a xe2x80x9ctunneling code,xe2x80x9d essentially an electronic addressing mask, to the URL, and the request is sent by modem to the end user""s ISP. The tunneling code instructs the ISP to forward the URL request to the DirecPC Network Operations Center (xe2x80x9cNOCxe2x80x9d) rather than to the server at the requested URL. The DirecPC NOC strips away the tunneling code from the received end user request and forwards the request to the appropriate site to retrieve the desired content. The DirecPC NOC then uploads the content to the DirecPC satellite, which in turn beams the requested content down to the end user""s DirecPC dish and into the end user""s PC. However, as the Hughes solution uses satellite for all requested content, except for those end users in remote locations, such delivery mechanism generally costs far more than delivery over a wired or terrestrial network.
Systems and methods for Internet content delivery using hybrid wireless and wire technologies are disclosed. It should be appreciated that the present invention can be implemented in numerous ways, including as a process, an apparatus, a system, a device, a method, or a computer readable medium such as a computer readable storage medium or a computer network wherein program instructions are sent over optical or electronic communication lines. Several inventive embodiments of the present invention are described below.
The system for Internet content delivery using wireless technology and wire technology generally comprises a client premise equipment (CPE) at an end user subscriber site configured to send a request for content and to receive requested content signals as well as a wireless receiver at the end user site in communication with the CPE, the wireless receiver being configured to wirelessly receive the requested content signals. The CPE is in communication with a content request server adapted to receive the end content request via a wire connection. The CPE is configured to receive requested content signals selectively transmitted by the content request server via one of the wire connection and wireless receiver. The wire connection may be over a twisted pair, cable, and/or fiber optic. Where the wire connection is over a twisted pair, the wire connection may use digital subscriber line (DSL) technology and optionally includes an ATM network.
The system may further comprise a transmitter in communication with the content request server and configured to transmit signals received from the content request server, the transmitter being in wireless communication with the wireless receiver at the end user site. In addition, the system may also comprise a relay transmitter in communication with the transmitter and configured to transmit signals received from the transmitter, the relay transmitter being in wireless communication with the wireless receiver at the end user site. The system may further comprise a satellite downlink in communication with the content request server, the satellite downlink being in wireless communication with a satellite adapted to transmit the requested content signals to the content request server via the satellite downlink.
In another embodiment, a system for delivery of content to an end user subscriber using wireless technology and wire technology at an end user subscriber site generally comprises a server in communication with the Internet via a wire link and in communication with a CPE at the end user subscriber site via a wire connection and a wireless transmitter in communication with the server and configured to wirelessly transmit signals received from the server to the end user subscriber site. The server, in response to receiving a content request from the end user subscriber via the wire connection, selectively transmits the requested content to the end user via one of the wireless transmitter and the wire connection.
The method for requesting and receiving content at an end user subscriber site using hybrid wireless and wire technologies generally comprises transmitting an end user subscriber request for content via a CPE at the end user subscriber site to a content request server over a wire connection, selectively transmitting the requested content signals via the wire connection or a wireless connection by the content request server to the CPE, and receiving requested content signals at the CPE from the content request server via the wire connection or via a wireless connection.
The present invention allows the selection of the most appropriate or most economically viable mechanism for the delivery of particular content to the end users. Wired networks are most appropriate for the delivery of on-demand unicast content. However, for multicast and/or broadcast content, such as live events, where many end users are attempting to access identical content, such content is best sent via a wireless network as a wireless network is inherently broadcast in nature. It is noted that the wireless delivery mechanism typically utilizes IP multicast.